As someone who loves to cook whatever I'm feeling in the moment, I understand that meal plans can feel...well, a little too planned. What I've realized, though, is that coming up with a rough plan at the start of the week makes grocery shopping much easier, and alleviates the potential stress of having to figure out exactly what it is you're craving on a given day. Plus, it's actually easier to cook something spontaneous if you have a relatively well-stocked fridge and pantry, so going off-book one night (or several) doesn't have to mean an extra trip to the store.

To help you stay ahead of the weekday cooking game, SELF is putting together weekly lists of seven recipes that will hopefully inspire your meal planning for the week ahead. You can check out past weeks' recipes here. All of the recipes have a balance of protein, healthy fats, and healthy carbs, and they're simple enough for beginner cooks. Several ingredients appear in multiple recipes—brown rice, potatoes, broccoli, ground beef, cherry tomatoes, and bell peppers—which helps keep your grocery list short.

There are four vegetarian recipes, two ground beef recipes, and one fish recipe, so you won't get bored.
The number of servings per recipe varies, but you can easily halve or double each of them as it suits you. Also, you might want to choose just a few recipes and repeat meals for a couple of days (that's what I do, to be honest!). If you cook one of the recipes or have questions, post a photo on Instagram and tag @selfmagazine and @xtinebyrne (that's me!), or DM us—we love a good food pic as much as you do, and we're always here to help!

This 15-minute vegetarian dinner is flavorful and made with plenty of greens. I like eating it with toasted pita, but you could also serve it with a hunk of crusty bread, or over rice. If you're cooking for one, the leftover serving will reheat perfectly for lunch. Get the recipe here.

A bowl of ground beef and rice might bring back bad (or great) cafeteria memories, but this bowl is definitely a grown-up spin on the basic combination. There's sautéed onion and pepper, plus chili powder and paprika for spice. Get the recipe here.

This meatless dinner has both cheese and nutritional yeast (a dairy-free dry ingredient that adds a cheesy savory flavor to recipes), so it's extra delicious. I love adding broccoli to dishes that are especially saucy or cheesy, since the tips of the florets really soak things up. Get the recipe here.

This breakfast-for-dinner recipe takes a little more time than many of the others, since the potatoes cook in oven before you add the remaining ingredients. That said, it's low-effort, and using boxed or canned soup (or jarred tomato sauce, which you can substitute in equal quantity) is an efficient shortcut. Get the recipe here.

Of all the weeknight dinner recipes I've developed, this plain-looking beef-and-broccoli potato meal remains my roommate's hands-down favorite. Two tablespoons of tomato paste in the ground beef mixture adds umami and makes the whole thing surprisingly delicious. Plus, it's easy to scale the recipe up to make several servings that you can reheat for lunches or dinners all week. Get the recipe here.

When you're dealing with rice that's been sitting in the fridge for a couple of days, a great way to add back some of the lost moisture is to stir-fry it in some oil, then add a little liquid to flavor. Here, and in most fried rice recipes, that liquid is a mixture of soy sauce and rice vinegar. If you don't want to buy carrots and spinach for this, you can easily use a whole bell pepper instead of a half, and substitute 1 cup chopped kale for the spinach. Get the recipe here.

Fish can seem intimidating if you're a kitchen beginner, but it's actually a great easy dinner option since it cooks quicker than meat. The easiest way to do it is to wrap fish and a few quick-cooking vegetables in a parchment packet (which you just make out of parchment paper, or foil if you're in a pinch) along with a little liquid, then bake the whole thing for 10 minutes. Bonus: minimal clean-up. Get the recipe here.